Hoping some of you might be able to help me make a decision.
We have a 2003 Honda CRV with 112,000 miles and we owe $7500 on it. Our payment is $346/month.
We initially had a lease on it, but then in 2006 decided to buy out the lease for $10,000. This seemed like a great idea b/c I had a $10,000 check coming from an insurance claim (non related to this car) and we planned to pay the car off with that. Also, it was under warranty until 100,000 miles. BUT...then we moved that summer and put the money into buying our first house instead. So we've been making payments (primarily to interest) for four years. We are finally paying the principal now, but have two years of payments left, AND are no longer under warranty.
This is our only car. Our plan was to pay off the CRV and then lease a civic when we had extra $ in our monthly budget. It seemed like such a great plan at the time b/c we'd have a dependable vehicle that we owned and could decide whether or not we really needed the second car.
I'd love to stick with that plan, but at this point, we have a car that is no longer under warranty and that freaks me out. It seems that the CRV is worth at least as much as we owe on it, and we're considering trading it in on a newer CRV or a lease, but that just makes me feel like we've wasted sooo much money. We're really having trouble deciding what to do. My research shows that CRVs frequently last for around 200,000 miles, but there's obviously no guarantee for that, and I think eventually we may be upside down on the loan, right?
I've always had a new car and worry about even taking this one on long trips b/c it's not new. That may be unnecessary worry, but that's why I'm looking for some advice. I should note that DH drives about 25 miles to work each way each day (9 mos/yr). And we live within walking distance of all things necessary for me and DS during the day, so having a second car is not a necessity.
Thanks!
We have a 2003 Honda CRV with 112,000 miles and we owe $7500 on it. Our payment is $346/month.
We initially had a lease on it, but then in 2006 decided to buy out the lease for $10,000. This seemed like a great idea b/c I had a $10,000 check coming from an insurance claim (non related to this car) and we planned to pay the car off with that. Also, it was under warranty until 100,000 miles. BUT...then we moved that summer and put the money into buying our first house instead. So we've been making payments (primarily to interest) for four years. We are finally paying the principal now, but have two years of payments left, AND are no longer under warranty.
This is our only car. Our plan was to pay off the CRV and then lease a civic when we had extra $ in our monthly budget. It seemed like such a great plan at the time b/c we'd have a dependable vehicle that we owned and could decide whether or not we really needed the second car.
I'd love to stick with that plan, but at this point, we have a car that is no longer under warranty and that freaks me out. It seems that the CRV is worth at least as much as we owe on it, and we're considering trading it in on a newer CRV or a lease, but that just makes me feel like we've wasted sooo much money. We're really having trouble deciding what to do. My research shows that CRVs frequently last for around 200,000 miles, but there's obviously no guarantee for that, and I think eventually we may be upside down on the loan, right?
I've always had a new car and worry about even taking this one on long trips b/c it's not new. That may be unnecessary worry, but that's why I'm looking for some advice. I should note that DH drives about 25 miles to work each way each day (9 mos/yr). And we live within walking distance of all things necessary for me and DS during the day, so having a second car is not a necessity.
Thanks!
